Although science fiction twenty-five years ago, creating tissues and organs from human cells is a reality for Anthony Atala. Atala is now the W.H. Boyce professor and chairman of Winston Salem-based Wake Forest University's urology department and director of wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine where he continues clinical trials to generate functional bladders.

North Carolina is quickly becoming the energy industry's leader. With new sources of energy, including renewables and gas, companies are also modernizing technology and partnering with educational institutions to train a better workforce.

Clean food is Earth Fare's reason for being. The privately owned, Asheville-based chain began in 1975 and has rapidly grown ever since, now with 41 locations. But now Earth Fare's place in the competitive organic grocery business is being tested with the plans to merge Amazon with Whole Foods, one of the chains biggest competitors.

White truffles can sell for around $600 per pound to top chefs at high-end restaurants. A Burlington, North Carolina-based biotechnology company has developed a way to grow white truffles in the state's loblolly pines. Here they grow in a quarter of the time.

After lagging behind in the urban renewal trend, Greensboro, North Carolina is getting its tallest new building since 1990. The $24 million project will be a nine-story office building that overlooks the First National Bank Field, home of the Greensboro Grasshoppers minor-league baseball team.

Charlotte-based Asana Partners real-estate firm has raised over $500 million to make their mark in retail property. But instead of big-box stores or suburban malls, the firm is buying properties in strong urban markets with less threat from online retailers.

Powerboat sales have increased, with more boats, engines and trailers sold in North Carolina than all but five other states. With this rise in sales, marine owners and operators are investing more in upgrades and exansions.

In Chris White's San Diego-based White Labs, Inc., he combines his two passions: chemistry and beer. White Labs is the largest yeast supplier for breweries across the United States and has opened a new location in Asheville, North Carolina. The location attracted White due to the brewers such as Sierra Nevada and New Belgium.

Prabhavathi Fernandes spent over three decades developing drugs for bacterial infections. On the brink of developing a treatment for pnemonia, Fernandes' Chapel Hill-based Cempra, Inc. was halted by federal regulators. Although Fernandes abruptly left the company, Cempra seeks to rebound.

The town of Mount Olive has been in the pickle industry for 91 years. Mt. Olive Pickle Co. is a market leader in the growing pickle industry and has refused to be absorbed into larger corporations or divisions. The company is also looking for more ways to expand overseas.

The agrarian side of Nash and Edgecombe counties is being utilized to grow a manufacturing workforce in furniture manufacturing, food processing, textiles, railway distribution, and recreational opportunities.